Book Review: Dynamic Women of the Bible

Dynamic Women of the Bible
Ruth A Tucker
Baker Book 2014

I signed up to begin reviewing books for publishers.  I received my first group a few weeks ago and have finished up the first batch and will post reviews within the coming days.  

Unfortunately the first book review is not one that I'd recommend.  If you are looking for a good women's book the check here. 

        "Dynamic Women of the Bible" seemed to have potential, I wanted it to be a resource I could pass onto women in my church and maybe use for women’s small group studies and such. However this book is dangerous. Don’t get me wrong, Tucker shows in some sentences she is a scholar but then it goes down hill. Fast. One of the primary things you learn from studying hermeneutics (how to study the Bible) is that context is king. Tucker goes throughout the Bible and takes women out of their intended and beautiful contexts, provides a brief info and then gives her own interpretation. This is where this book becomes dangerous. Tucker adds in the “what if’s” and basically turns each character into who she wants them to be. This is known as eisegesis and is the opposite of exegesis. When you read someones thoughts on someone else's words it is important that the one commentating uses exegesis and not eisegesis so that the point the original author was trying to make is what is conveyed to the reader. Tucker fails at this. Repeatedly.  
Tucker is right that women in the Bible are authentic and approachable (xiii), she briefly mentions that Joseph is a type of Christ (xiv) and that briefly mentions the importance of Genesis 3:15 (the protoevangelium page 5-6) but other than a few glimpses of scholarship, the rest is all down hill. Rapid down hill and it was difficult to read. I am all for asking questions and wondering but when it comes to Scripture there are boundaries one must have when questioning to stay within the context and intention of the authors.  
For instance when talking about Eve, Tucker questions if she even understood Genesis 3:15(5-6). What Tucker fails to do is allow what Moses is trying to say be heard. Instead of asking questions and giving our opinions on things that the Scriptures are silent on, we should be asking and interpreting what is given. The point of Genesis 3 is that Adam failed.  Adam failed to communicate God’s word accurately to Eve. Adam failed to protect Eve and rule over the animals. But after they fall the glorious thing about Genesis 3:15 is that it is the gospel. Adam and Eve were told is you eat of this tree you will die. They eat.  Then they hear you are not dying today. That’s grace, that’s mercy and how do they respond to this news? They both have faith. How do we know? Because the text tells us it is after all of this that Adam then names his wife Eve. What does Eve mean? Mother of the living!  Adam and Eve believe Genesis 3:15 and they are saved by grace through faith like everyone else since. They are then clothed by animals skins by God and in Genesis 4 we do have actual words (though brief I agree) from Eve and what is she doing? Praising God that she has gotten children. Why? Because it will be though women having children that all of mankind will be saved. What an important and glorious role to celebrate and live in.  Tucker fails at giving what is there in the text.  
Tucker forces things into the text of Genesis 1-4 by saying things like “Eve has no way of knowing that she had been formed out of this man-creature’s rib (3).” Again Tucker says of Eve “does she know God personally the as Adam does(4)?” This is clear eisegesis. Tucker is forcing her own understanding of something that happened 6000 (approximately) years ago and in doing so belittle’s Eve and God. Unfortunately is doesn’t get any better through the rest of the book. Whether it’s bashing Sarah (and almost exalting Hagar) and neglecting to mention that she is the only woman in the Bible that other women are called to emulate (a huge miss on Tucker’s part) or saying things about Mary’s appearance and thoughts about Jesus never really having a childhood (240), Tucker misses the golden opportunity that her title speaks of. Instead of looking at the dynamic women of the Bible as the Bible presents them this book is simply Tucker’s misleading thoughts or comments about women in the Bible. I cannot recommend it in anyway. It was painful to see such an opportunity missed completely. 

*I received this book free from the publisher to write this review. 

Old Testament Survey

          This past monday I completed teaching Old Testament Survey for a class going through the BTCP training in our association.  BTCP is essentially a non-credited mobile seminary used to train pastors world wide.  It is a fantastic and transferable way to train pastors and leaders.  There are 10 total courses and it was a privilege to teach the Old Testament.  Normally in seminary you have 2-3 courses that cover the Old Testament (typically OT I and OT II) and spend anywhere from 24-28 weeks going through each book.  Even in Seminary this was not an easy task to complete.  
           
           For this class we chose to meet for 20 weeks (a huge commitment) for 3 hours on Monday night.  I chose to follow the Hebrew text as far as the outline and schedule. We want to approach the Old Testament in the same manner that the New Testament looks at the Old Testament and specifically how Jesus looks at the Old Testament.  The best passage is Luke 24 where Jesus breaks down the Old Testament into three books or categories: Torah (Moses), Prophets, Writings (Psalms). This is how the nation of Israel referred to the Old Testament as well as the authors of the New Testament.  The Scripture of the Hebrews was also referred at the TaNaK.  This is an acronym for the headings of the three sections.  Torah (Moses), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings/Psalms).  Here is the order of the Old Testament books as presented in the Hebrew Bible.


Torah (Moses) Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Number, and Deuteronomy
Nevi’im (Prophets) Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and The Twelve
Ketuvim (Writings/Psalms) Psalms, Proverbs, Job, The Five Scrolls, Daniel, Ezra/Nehemiah, Chronicles.

          The author of Chronicles is traditionally been recognized as Ezra (though no official author is ever stated within the book itself). As Ezra is a part of the rebuilding project of the Temple after the exile and return from Babylon he is realizing that though there has been a physical return back to the Promised Land there has not been a spiritual return or exodus that the prophets have indicated would happen. Therefore Chronicles ends with the decree of Cyrus, one of the two Servants prophesied about by Isaiah.  By ending in this manner, the Chronicler has organized the Old Testament in such a way to provoke hope in the Messiah.  The second Servant mentioned in Isaiah.  That is what the nation of Israel and the world is waiting for as the Old Testament closes. We are looking for the seed of Adam, the seed of Abraham, and the Seed of David.  Which is why, Matthew begins his book with a genealogy about Jesus, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 

          It was a joy to teach and train students in the Old Testament and I look forward to doing it again in the future.  The books that influenced my teaching and approach the Old Testament the most were:
Dominion and Dynasty by Stephen Dempster
God's Glory in Salvation Through Judgment by James Hamilton
Kingdom through Covenant by Stephen Wellum and Peter Gentry
The Temple and the Church's Mission by GK Beale
The Faith of Israel by William Dumbrell

Though there are many more that could be included and have shaped my view of Scripture these were the primary resources I used week in and week out.  

El Salvador Trip Notes

 

 
 
 



Thank you to everyone who prayed for our team while we were in El Salvador last week.  It was an amazing week of ministry.  There are so many who have gone before us that set such a great foundation.  Through their efforts the Lord blessed our trip and we are eternally grateful for their work.  Here are some thoughts and recap from our trip.

The Team
I went with a team of 15 members from 3 churches in South East Missouri with ages ranging from 13-68.  By God's grace our team had amazing chemistry even though we did not know each other very well before the trip.  I have been on a lot of teams and trips overseas but this by far was one of the best "team" experiences I have ever had.  There was no complaining or whining (even when we lost power at our hotel and when our schedule kept changing).  There was flexibility and humility.  Most of all there was joy and excitement to be able to serve the Lord.

The Training
It was difficult for me to break away from the group each day but the main reason I went on this trip was to train El Salvadorian Pastors in the Old Testament.  We met Monday-Wednesday from 8AM-4PM and Thursday from 8AM-12PM and worked through the Pentateuch.  We spent time during the introduction to the Old Testament to talk about the structure and order and how Luke 24 shows us how Jesus read the Old Testament.  Then we spent a lot of time in Genesis.  Genesis is so crucial because of the foundation it provides the rest of the Bible and typically we read through it quickly or assume we "know" it and we miss the structure and patterns that then keep reappearing throughout the Bible.

It was a challenging task teaching all day and using an interpreter but it was so worth it.  The pastors were hungry to learn and showed great signs of taking in and being able to process and apply what we discussed.  The pastors also had great questions and reflections and we had to park on several texts and theological issues.  It was a blessing to be able to show them how true 2 Timothy 3:16 is and to wrestle with the difficult texts found in the Pentateuch.

The Church Plants
Churches in our association here in Missouri have begun partnering with church plants going on in El Salvador.  This trip our teams were able to visit these locations and talk with the pastors about how we can help them going forward and in some areas they were able to evangelize and minister to the surrounding villages.  We got great feedback and ideas going forward to help plan for future trips with specific needs that those teams can meet.  This is huge as the nature of trips will be transitioning from how they have gone in the past to how we can help in the future.  We were able to worship at the church plant in Apaneca one night and spend the day evangelizing in some surrounding villages and saw a great need for a VBS team to come back and not only run a VBS but also train the members in Apaneca how to have a successful  children's outreach ministry.

Church Services
Apart from one night at Apaneca, we spent each night at Santa Catarina for church services.  We had a team that ministered to the children doing various teachings, puppets, crafts, and singing.  We also had a group lead the youth a couple of times (even though they were only given a few moments notice that they were going to minister to the youth) and the rest of us did panel discussions with the adults.  The panel discussions led to incredible discussions and questions.  Issues such as identity, spiritual gifts, marriage, idolatry and etc were brought up in our discussions.  You could tell that great strides were being made each night we had these discussions.  They normally went very long and we would have to end the discussions, even though they could have kept going.

The People
Again our team was amazing but it was also so encouraging to see brothers and sisters in El Salvador.  I remembered many who I had met in November and we were able to work with amazing translators and pastors while there.  Roberto (the main translator) quickly took our team under his wing and was a great source of information, entertainment, and was the glue that kept us all together.  It was a privilege to get to know the pastors while in training and the pastors of each church we worked with.

Fun Day
On Friday our team broke up and some went shopping in A Taco and the rest of us went Zip Lining in Apaneca.  The Zip Line was an awesome experience and there were some amazing views of the mountains, coffee plantations, and the city of Apaneca.  After meeting the rest of the team for lunch in A Taco we went to a Mayan ruin for the afternoon.  It rained...no it poured on our way to the ruin and several us in the back of the pick-up truck we were in got soaked.  It was still raining when we got to the ruin so we did not stay long but it was very interesting looking into the history and technology of the Mayans.

El Salvador Trip

This Saturday I will be heading to El Salvador with a group of 15 members representing three different churches from South East Missouri.  We would greatly appreciate your prayers for us while we are there (June 7th-14th).  I will be teaching Old Testament Survey to about 20 pastors who have begun the Bible Center Training for Pastors while others from the team will be visiting schools and doing door to door evangelism in the town of Apaneca.  Each night we will also be visiting with churches in the area for fellowship and training.  

Please pray...

1. That the Lord would bring glory to His name through our trip

2. That the Lord would open doors for evangelism in homes and in schools

3. That the Lord would save those who we share the gospel with

4. That the Lord would encourage and strengthen pastors while they are being trained

5. That the Lord would grant us endurance (Endurance to teach, endurance to listen and learn, endurance to share in schools, homes, and churches), strength, and health. 

6. That our team would have safe travels to and from El Salvador and safety within the country. 

7. That our team would have unity and humility as we serve. 

8. That our families at home would be protected while we are away. 

Lord willing, I will make a few posts while on the trip and a follow-up post once back home.

You can also follow along on facebook here.  

    

Evangelism and PROOF

I have recently finished reading two great books.  Evangelism by J. Mack Stiles and PROOF by Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones.  I received both for free at the conferences I attended in Louisville in April.

Evangelism by J. Mack Stiles, Crossway, Wheaton, IL, 2014 $14.99

       Evangelism is part of the 9Marks series on building healthy churches.  Each book in the series is an extension from Mark Dever's book Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Dever's book is very helpful and I am thrilled they have continued to expand upon his original work.  J. Mack Stiles does not present a new method of how to do evangelism.  This is not FAITH 2.0 or EE 2.0.  From the foreword (by David Platt) and throughout the book it is clear that Stiles is arguing for a "culture" of evangelism that does not rely on programs, events, projects, and professionals (14).

After the Foreword and Intro Stiles Has five chapters and an Appendix. In chapter one Stiles argues that "...the Bible never uses results to guide or justify evangelistic practices"(24).  The point of evangelism is not to be good at a method.  It is to be faithful to communicate the message.  God can overcome bad evangelism or methods because it is the message, the gospel, that ultimately bares fruit.  Evangelism is defined as "teaching the gospel with the aim to persuade." (26)  Christians should persuade but not manipulate.  Churches should engage but not aim to entertain.  Stiles then defines the gospel and explains the urgency of why getting evangelism right is so important.  He says"Unbiblical evangelism is a method os assisted suicide for a church, so there is much at stake in getting evangelism right." (39)

In chapter two explains how to create a culture of evangelism where every church member is active in naturally haring their faith.  In chapter three Stiles ties the culture of evangelism to the church and how having a correct ecclesiology helps create a culture of evangelism.  Next, in chapter four Stiles argues for intentionality in our evangelism and how is should be considered a spiritual discipline for all believers.  Finally, in chapter five, Stiles offers examples of how each Christian can be a true Ambassador for Christ.

Stiles work is right on point.  It is convicting, to the point, and filled with great illustrations.  A great resource for pastors and laymen.  I pray that not only my church, but churches everywhere will cultivate a culture of evangelism.

PROOF by Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2014 $16.99

       I received copy of PROOF at Band of Blogger 2014 in Louisville, KY and I am so happy I did.  Jones and Montgomery have written a significant work about a significant topic at a very significant time.  PROOF is all about grace.  In fact PROOF is an acronym for planned grace, resurrecting grace, outrageous grace, overcoming grace, and forever grace.  The authors open with a chapter about the works based mindset that we all are born with and struggle to fight against even after coming to faith.  They state "at the root of every man-made deity and every human religion is the notion that our performance can achieve some sort of negotiated settlement with a Holy God." Therefore PROOF is "an alarm clock that awakens you from the delusion that life depends on you and frees you to discover the intoxicating joy of God's wild and free grace."

Chapters two through six then go through each point of grace.  Instead of following the acronym TULIP to describe the doctrines of grace the authors follow the Synod of Dort (A response to the false teachings of Jacob Arminius).  The strength of each chapter is the careful walk through the Scriptures (and particularly feasting on Ephesians) and how well each chapter is written.  PROOF is filled with great examples and illustrations from both authors.

The jewel of the book for me was chapter seven,  titled "Grace for Life."  In this chapter the authors walk through the reformation, the response to reformational teaching by Jacob Arminius's followers (not Arminius himself), and the rebuttal by pastors at the Synod of Dort in 1618.  The response to the heresy of the followers of Arminius did not represent new truths.  Many church fathers had already advocated these truths well before the reformation.  The idea of the TULIP did not develop until 1905 when a Presbyterian pastor in Brooklyn chose the flower to make the teachings more rememberable.  The problem with the acronym is that language and changes were made that had nothing to do with the decisions made at Dort.  It comes across as harsh in both the view of man and of God because of the language used.  The authors rightly reject the flaws and the false theology that can come from extreme views of the TULIP (i.e. Hyper Calvinism).  But they whole heartedly agree with the decisions made at the Synod of Dort.

Calvinism is a very hot topic right now.  Some for good reason and a lot for bad reasons.  PROOF is a great work that provides balance and understanding to the history of the debate and how and why it has caused issues now.  The authors state that "the point of PROOF is...to point you away from Calvinism-or, perhaps more precisely, to push you away from Calvinism as a system and toward the gospel of God's grace."  To this I say AMEN.  The authors provide several charts and graphs to describe the prevalent views of grace right now and how each other view is wrong.  Again, this chapter, this book is very helpful. The disunity and the controversy over this topic seems to come from parties who do not have balance.  One party over emphasizes God's sovereignty, the other party over emphasizes man's responsibility. Balance is needed.

What the Synod of Dort and PROOF push is the Scriptures, not a system of rational or theological statements.  The more I read the Scriptures the more these truths of grace become evident.  God is indeed completely sovereign and yet man is also responsible.  What we need now is balance and PROOF is a great step forward to balancing God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.  Those turned off by Calvinism will benefit greatly by carefully studying this work (they provide great appendices and 'proof' texts).  On the flip side those who are extreme in their understanding and proclamation of Calvinism will greatly benefit as well.

I whole-heartedly recommend every believer pick up PROOF and glean from the wisdom and great exposition of these two authors.  I pray this work will bring unity (especially within the SBC) and enlightenment to the truly amazing and irresistible grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

Great Posts from Moore and Tchvidjian

"..the gospel ought to drive us to ask for, and to receive, forgiveness from one another."

Dr. Russell Moore's Reflections on Tullian Tchvidjian's Apology

I agree with Dr. Moore's summary that the argument was more about "emphasis" than "substance." Moore has great thoughts on the issue of forgiveness. I love when he says "But then we remember that we’re Christians. And nothing makes us look weaker than crucifixion. Let’s love one another, and forgive one another."

In other words...forgiven sinners forgive. It's not easy to apologize and it's equally as hard to forgive. Christians are called and will do both.

You can read Tullian's apology here.

Praise the Lord for forgiveness and reconciliation.




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How and I doing? Nine Heartfelt Remarks from Pastors and Church Members

Thom Rainer posted two really good posts last week about pastors and church members. And feedback between them. Sometimes there can be a great disconnect between pastors and their congregations.  I am sure there are a number of factors that cause this disconnect (cultural and age differences etc) and Rainer in these two articles does a great job of trying to bridge the gap.

As a pastor I want to be as transparent as I can be (for better or worse) as I lead. I ask for and I welcome feedback and would appreciate any of your thoughts after reading these two articles. I can identify with a lot of the points from Pastors to Church Members. Especially #7 "Please don’t criticize me or ask me to do something right before I preach." How about you (pastor or church member) what points can you relate to?  Read both articles. How am I doing (CM to Pastor)?
Nine Heartfelt Things Church Members Would Like to Say to Their Pastors

Nine Heartfelt Things Pastors Would Like to Say to Church Members